Sir,
Socioeconomic status (SES) is a proxy indicator for the health of an individual and his/her family.[1] The modified BG Prasad scale is one of the commonly used SES scales to measure the SES in urban and rural areas. BG Prasad’s classification was introduced in 1961.[2] BG Prasad’s classification is based on the Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW). CPI-IW is designed to measure a change over time in prices of a given basket of goods and services consumed by a defined population (i.e., Industrial Workers). This index is prepared using the Industrial Workers residing in 70 centers of industrial importance, distributed among the states in proportion to industrial employment. This index is revised every month by the Labour Bureau, Government of India. This reflects the previous month’s change in the Indian Economy and Indian Rupee.
CPI-IW and linking factors between the base years are the essential components for calculating the SES. The base year of price index numbers is revised at regular intervals, reflecting the changes in the population’s consumption pattern.[1] Linking factors are used to convert the CPI from the new base to the old base. The first base year for CPI is 1960. Taking the base of CPI for 1960 as 100[2] and it got modified in 1982, 2001, and 2016. The linking factors for 1982, 2001, and 2016 were 4.93, 4.63, and 2.88, respectively.[3,4] The linking factors from the year 1960 to 2016 are summarized in Table 1.
Table 1.
Linking factors for the calculation of per-capita income from the year 1960 to 2016
| Price index year | Value | Linking factor between year series | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 100 | ||
| 1960-1982 | 4.63 | ||
| 1982 | 100 | ||
| 1982-2001 | 4.93 | ||
| 2001 | 100 | ||
| 2001-2016 | 2.88 | ||
| 2016 | 100 |
Updated and modified value for BG Prasad’s socioeconomic classification for July 2022 can be calculated as follows:
Calculating multiplying factor for July 2022 from the latest available CPI-IW for May 2022[5]
Multiplying factor = Current index value for May 2022 (=129.0)/Base index value in 2016 (=100) =1.29.
The formula for calculating new income value for July 2022:
New value = Multiplying factor (1.29) × [Old value × Linking factor between 1960 and 1982 series (4.93) × Linking factor between 1982 and 2001 series (4.63) × Linking factor between 2001 and 2016 series (2.88)].
The multiplication factor came out after the above calculation came out to be 84.80. That means 100 INR in 1961 is equal to 8480 INR in 2022. This shows the amount of recession that happened to the value of the Indian Rupee in just 40 years time span. The updated and modified value for BG Prasad’s socioeconomic classification was calculated as per the new income value for July 2022. is given in Table 2.
Table 2.
Modified BG Prasad classification for May 2022
| Social class | Per-capita income (in INR) as per original classification in 1961 | Per-capita income (in INR) as per modified classification for May 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| I | ≥100 | ≥8480 |
| II | 50-99 | 4240-8479 |
| III | 30-49 | 2544-4239 |
| IV | 15-29 | 1272-2543 |
| V | <15 | <1272 |
Usually many do not feel comfortable revealing their income details. So, BG Prasad’s socioeconomic classification can include other indicators of income such as the preferred mode of travel: self-funded air travel to domestic and international destinations, travel by train in an air-conditioned (AC) coach, non-AC coach. Other SES scales also need to be updated periodically which portray the change happening in the social strata.
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Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
References
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